208 



INDIANS OF THE UCAYALI. 



blue, with a lock and key to it, and filled with hatchets, knives, beads, 

 fish-hooks, mirrors, &c. He has seen the world, and is an object of 

 envy to his kinsmen and neighbors. 



Not included among the deaths of 1850 are those of four men who 

 died from poison. In one of their drunken frolics the Indians were dis- 

 coursing of the properties of a small tree or shrub, called corrosive sub- 

 limate, of the forest, ("soliman del monte,") and they determined to test 

 it. They rasped a portion of the bark into their masato, and five men 

 and two women partook of it. Four of the men died in three-quarters 

 of an hour, in great agony, and the others were ill for a long time. 



Growing in the padre's garden was a small tree bearing a fruit about 

 the size of our hickory nut, which contained within a small, oblong nut, 

 called pitton. This has a soft shell ; and the substance of the nut is a 

 mild, safe, and efficient purgative. There was also a bush called 

 " guayusa" a decoction of the leaves of which is said to be good for 

 colds and rheumatism. It is also believed to be a cure for barrenness. 



The friars entertained us on Sunday evening with a dance of Indians. 

 These were dressed in frocks and trousers, but had head-dresses made 

 of a bandeau or circlet of short and rich-colored feathers, surmounted 

 with the long, tail-feathers of the scarlet macaw. They had strings 

 of dried nut shells around their legs, which made an agreeable jingling 

 in the dance. The half-bent knee, and graceful wave of the plumed hat 

 towards the priest before the dance commenced, with the regularity of 

 the figure, gave unmistakable evidence of the teaching of the Jesuits, 

 who appear to have neglected nothing, however trivial, that might bind 

 the affections of the proselytes, and gain themselves influence. 



The inhabitants of Sarayacu are divided into three distinct tribes, 

 called Panos, Omaguas, and Yameos. They dwell in different parts of 

 the town. Each tribe has its peculiar dialect; but they generally com- 

 municate in the Pano language. These last are the whitest and best- 

 looking Indians I have seen. 



I was unable to gather much authentic information concerning the 

 Infidels of the Ucayali. The padres had only been in Sarayacu a few 

 years, and had never left their post to travel among the Indians. 



The Campas are the most numerous and warlike tribe, and are reso- 

 lute in forbidding strangers to enter their territory. They inhabit all 

 the upper waters of the Ucayali ; and I think it probable that they are 

 the same who, under the name of Chunchos, are so hostile to the whites 

 about Chanchamayo, and on the haciendas to the eastward of Cuzco. 

 These are the people who, under Juan Santos Atahaullpa, in 1*742, 

 swept away all the Missions of the Cerro de la Sal ; and I have very 



